Africa Fashion Week Amsterdam 2016

Yes! It’s that time of the year again that Africa Fashion Week Amsterdam is here again.

Africa Fashion Week Amsterdam (AFWA) is all about showcasing African fashion, design and talent to the European and global audience. We think this is a good thing because Africa has so much to offer the world but is often poorly represented in the media. The only way to change this is to highlight the great developments Africa has and continues to make via a global podium. AFWA is just one example of this, with a focus on fashion.

With so much creativity on this vast African continent, it’s difficult to see who’s offering what to the world. We took a look at all of the fantastic artists appearing at AFWA and here is our run-through (note: we only selected the designers and exhibitors who had their own website (that worked) and could be found easily on the web).

Wakuu Suits

The social enterprise Wakuu Suits aims to create vibrant suits for men and women. Via their website we saw a number of African print blazers, suits and and bow ties, but unfortunately, we didn’t find anything for women??? Perhaps this is a collection that is still to come and if so, we look forward to seeing it. Wakuu Suits delivers globally and orders can be taken online. Aside from their collection, they have a very nice lookbook displaying their collections in real life.

Supreme Wax

When you think of wax and combine it with fashion, most of us think of Vlisco but there’s another player out their called Supreme Wax. OK, so, it’s not actually clear whether Supreme Wax and Vlisco are one and the same company. Both are based in the south of The Netherlands and you can purchase Vlisco products via the Supreme Wax website too …hmmm confusing but let’s not allow that to stop us from further discovering what they offer. The site has different fabric categories ranging from Vlisco, Meba Wo Abrokyere, Lace and many more showing different styles of fabrics, price and class.

Omar Munie

Designer Omar Munie will also be present at Africa Fashion Week Amsterdam. We know Munie from his bags in particular but Munie also makes accessories such as bracelets. Munie’s bag are worn by international stars and politicians such as Hilary Clinton and Jane Fonda, among others. Every girl loves her bags and so we took at look at his website and found this pearl. Simply gorgeous!

There are many other great artists and exhibitors at Africa Fashion Week Amsterdam. In our opinion, the organisation does a bad job of providing enough information about their vendors on the AFWA website – we didn’t see any website or social media page links and this would have greatly helped us in creating a more thorough editorial piece. In either case, if you happen to be in The Netherlands from August 25th 2016, then a visit to AFWA might be worth your while. Tickets cost between €5 en €206 euros.